Friday, December 8, 2017

As some of you may have noticed if you follow either of our personal Twitters or exist online at all, Patreon has made some rather unfortunate decisions concerning how to charge, how to present that info to the public, and what to say to the public in general. If you've not been following along, the short version is that processing fees are now taken not out of each creator's monthly take, but rather added to each patron's fee on top of their pledge. This is bad news for people who are already scraping to give (especially those giving a dollar here and there to many creators), and even worse news for creators whose big money comes from those single-digit pledges.

The good news for us is that Patreon was never our primary (or even secondary) source of income, so cutting free took basically no thinking.

It's also giving us each a chance to explore alternate ways to let fans support us. And since Ko-fi has worked well as a way to gather payment for ebooks, we're each giving it a try!

Things are still warming up, but we're consulting each other on how to make it roll. Obviously you can drop us the price of a coffee (or tea) anytime, but we'll also be coming up with "gift baskets" of monthly goodies that you get just for dropping some cash. And since they'll change out on a regular basis, there's always a reason to come back!

Ginger's Ko-fi currently offers artwork for anyone who gives over $12 at a go. In the near future she'll also be offering digital art goodies.Kara's Ko-fi is available to donate to, but it'll still be a bit before anything kicks off. (She has to finish setting up!) The price of a tea will eventually get you a month gift pack of original fiction, essays on the psychology of TV shows and video games, and a few more surprises.

Oh, and whenever there's a big Owl's Flower event coming, like a book or a con appearance, you might want to keep an eye on both our Ko-fi pages -- as giving to both of us during that time might earn you something extra cool!

Friday, December 1, 2017

Kara has emerged from the well of NaNoWriMo (successful for a second year, woo!), and both of us are hard at work on new stuff for (Re)Generation Who. What stuff? New merch, new panels... oh, and there's a guest announcement at 10 am Eastern today. Head over if the time is right and see who's joining us!

Kara's NaNo book from this year, The Widow Box, may or may not see the light of day as is. She's got a few plans for translating it into a different format. Stay tuned, as it may interest Owl's Flower fans who like our spookier output. For now, you can hit up her personal blog and see what she got up to this month.

And in case you missed it on our social media, Ginger's put out two sweet glow-in-the-dark tees. One is perfect for Whovians, and the other is just perfect for nuts like us who really love space. These are available now on her Etsy, along with a variety of coffee (or tea) mugs for the geeky amongst you.

Friday, November 17, 2017

If your ear is even remotely to the ground, you've probably caught wind of the fact that it's Children in Need day in the UK! The annual charity telethon teams up BBC shows and organizations around England to raise money for the country's underprivileged children. There's almost always a Doctor Who tie, since the show and the series's anniversary fall so close together -- so you know we're there.

This year, Chinbeard Books is getting in on the action with Whoblique Strategies, a collection of more than 275 flash-fiction pieces by 70 authors. Inspired by the history of the show and Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies" card set, the book is a unique look back through every story in the Classic and New series. Kara is featured with Oblique retellings of The Rescue, Frontier in Space, Timelash, and The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived.
Orders open on November 23 -- find out more now!

And speaking of Whovian history -- Ginger has some sweet swag in her store! Shirts (cast and crew approved!), keychains, prints, and more. With the series anniversary coming up, you will want to be able to put Who-y things on your body/home/vehicle/aura/etc. Visit Ginger's Etsy store to load up on Who-inspired creations and support indie artists!

Friday, November 10, 2017

Hello again, everyone! It's a busy time for us at Owl's Flower Central (which is two separate buildings separated by half a country, but whatever). And by "busy," we mean "we've both been sick and then fell behind on deadlines and also Kara decided NaNoWriMo was a good idea with two books that need to be finished by the end of the year."

But we digress.

We're looking forward to rolling out some super-cool news in the coming months concerning the release of the third book, our work at (Re)Generation Who, and other such neatness. Right now, a lot of things are in a holding pattern for both of us as we wait for responses from various places. But if all goes well, we'll have cool things to tell you soon!

For now...

Ginger is working away on some neat new stuff for her Etsy, thanks to customer feedback. When it's ready, we'll show you some pictures. It's still in the planning stages right now, but it sounds like it's going to be adorable!

Also, as mentioned above, Kara is doing NaNoWriMo! This is her second year, and after a win the first year... well, we'll see whether or not the cold and follow-up eye infections have ruined everything or if she's still in the running. If you want to friend her or follow her progress, slam her NaNo writer page! And, you know, tell her to get a move on.

Finally, best of luck to Discover Teas as they go into their new form as an online and pop-up distributor! Attendees of our book launch at Intervention will remember that we had a hot tea and a fizzy iced -- both were custom blends created just for us by the Discover Teas staff. Check them out to get something to warm up your November nights!

Friday, October 27, 2017

Pardon us for, you know, talking up our own books on our book website -- but really, have you read Ghost Fall yet? Because it's almost Halloween and, well, it's a Halloween book.

While the series-titled first book will always stay free, we do ask for at least a small donation in order to download the second book. But we like to think it packs a punch, especially at this time of year. What can readers expect from Ghost Fall?A Ghost Story. And it's super spooky. What happens when a demigod is scared out of his own home? And what's scary enough to do that?

Owls in hats. See above. Also super spooky.

Stormy as a zombie barista. Yeah, that's a late-book spoiler, but it's not going to wreck the plot at all. She makes an awesome zombie barista.

The arrival of a new deity. Of course Herne isn't the only non-human you'll see. Not by a long shot. This is just the first of a growing pantheon. But you'll have to read and discover who it is.

Coffee and cookies. Naturally.

For all of the above and more, including tons of full-color art, grab Ghost Fall now, either digital or in print.

Friday, October 20, 2017

If you're not already following Ginger for Inktober, you definitely might want to. She's turning out lots of adorable pics this year, especially of interest to Doctor Who fans! You can find her on Twitter as @Kataoi, or on Instagram as @randomthunk.

Meanwhile, the Audio Verse Awards are coming, and Kara's a semifinalist in two categories for her work in The Chronicles of Oz! Voting is open to the public until October 30th at 11:59 PM. So if you want to help, why not throw her some votes? While you're there, consider tossing some votes in for the other Chronicles of Oz nominees, and maybe a few for Strangeness in Space, Sophie Aldred's new comedy podcast!

Thanks as always for your continued support -- and if you haven't picked up Ghost Fall yet, be sure to grab it soon! It's not going anywhere, but it's kind of a Halloween book so it'll totally set the mood.

Friday, October 6, 2017

This Poseidon-y statue stands at the top of a hotel overlooking Trinity Square, which contains a series of monuments honoring British soldiers who were lost at sea in both Great Wars. And if you go down into a little alcove, there are even more plaques, flanked by decidedly aquatic-looking deities.

"Old Father Thames" is a long-running figure in England, a genius loci (spirit of a place) -- same as Herne! Except, well -- the Thames is very real (unlike William's Grove), and Father Thames's legend exists in statues and poetry and a series of books by Ben Aaronovich. He even showed up in political cartoons addressing the heavy pollution of the river in centuries past.

But like (and before) Herne, Father Thames sees to have received his share of offerings. If you go to the British Museum, you can see shields, ornaments, and more thrown into the river, supposedly in offering to the spirit. Slightly higher caliber than our resident demigod... then again, Father Thames is big news.

If you're ever in London and want to see him for yourself, all you have to do is take the underground to the Tower Hill tube station, exit toward the Tower of London, and turn right. Go through the gate into Trinity Square, and you'll catch sight of the statue in his alcove over the hotel.

Of course, this begs the question: will he be showing up in the future of Owl's Flower? We can't confirm or deny anything... but he certainly left an impression on Kara during her trip.

Friday, September 29, 2017

Hello again, everyone! Thanks for all the awesome reviews and comments we've been getting. We're very happy to see that Owl's Flower really is doing what it set out to do (and beyond, it seems!) for fans of sci-fantasy and romance and pretty pictures.

Now... on to our weekly madness!

First off, we're pleased and proud to announce that Ginger will be working with Transfiguring Adoption on their ongoing series A Guide to Magical Creatures Around Your Home. TA works to develop media resources for foster families, using the worlds of Harry Potter and other fictional works to enable discussion, trauma management, and personal healing.

The first two she's illustrated are the good dream granting Dipsy Toad and the hair-tangling Tangerella. There are plenty more to come! You can check out more magical creatures right now on the TA website.

In other news, KARA IS FLEEING THE COUNTRY... for two weeks. It's time for one of her regular UK visits. She'll be over seeing friends, grabbing content (and guests?) for (Re)Generation Who, and being overall insufferable. If you want to follow her trip, keep an eye on her blog! She may well remember to update it occasionally like she's planning to.

Friday, September 22, 2017

It's almost the end of September and that's sort of terrifying. Kara's heading off to England in just over a, but that won't stop progress on much of anything. Both Ginger and Kara are working away on some cool new stuff that can hopefully be in your hands before long!

Our lips are sealed on what it's for, but check out Ginger's work on this magical little critter! More forthcoming on what he's for and where you can get it. For now, enjoy the sparkles and see if you can guess what it'll be!

Speaking of new projects, be sure to preorder Ride the Star Wind, which drops next Tuesday! Released by Broken Eye Books, this new anthology mixes Lovecraftian horror with space opera. Kara is included by way of a story titled "Canary Down" -- be sure to check it out!

And last but not least, you might want to keep an eye out for this anthology, coming in the near future. Relics is another release from Red Ted Books, who released the Doctor Who charity anthology Nine Lives. This one in particular is special because it includes a short story set in the Owl's Flower universe! We'll tell you more when the time comes... but for now, look forward to "Clarity."

Friday, September 15, 2017

We had an amazing weekend at the first-ever PotterVerse. Ginger's first-ever branded con, tons of interviews and presenting for Kara, and (finally) some time in the hot tub for both of us.

The entire Onezumi Events crew did an amazing job this year, even with the expected (and unexpected) first-year hiccups. Saturday morning involved a fire alarm going off, followed by a huge influx of day-pass attendees! Sunday was equally well attended, and the reg table and panels were rocking!

Speaking of panels, we had an amazing turnout for our Saturday panel on self-publishing. Lots of interested and engaged attendees learning how to create their books on their own terms. Hopefully soon we'll be going out and reading their creations!

And thanks to all our new (and vocal!) fans! We sold books while we were at the con, and got some awesome reviews on Facebook. Which means... you guys were reading in your hotel rooms??? That's freaking amazing, guys.

We also ran straight out of our collab art created by Ginger. Don't worry -- we'll be sure to memorialize it somewhere!

So what does this mean for future...

Will you do more Owl's Flower stuff at cons? Yep! Likely Onezumi Events joints since that's the one place where we're both sure to be, but I'm sure if we got an offer that let us hike out to an event together without breaking ourselves or the bank, we might consider it.

Will you do the self-publishing panel again? Almost certainly, and it will probably be different next time you see it. Any time we encounter a new issue, our approach changes. So a year from now we will likely have learned enough to have new information to offer.

Will you do other types? We're kicking around a couple ideas that integrate our Owl's Flower work into a wider fandom/creativity scope, so we may look into that. At the moment our fan base doesn't feel quite wide enough to do a solely Owl's Flower panel, but we look forward to the day when we can just bring out coffee and cookies and shoot the breeze.

What about more collab art? That worked so well. Honestly, the idea came about because Kara is such a sucker for how hard Japan goes with collab cafes/art prints/etc. and Ginger made it good. It was great for advertising and drumming up support, but neither of us really predicted running out. So yes, more art will be on the horizon we hope.
Thanks again for coming out to see us, hanging out with us, and taking a chance on our book series! We'll have more news soon about what's going on here, and where you can see us next!

Friday, September 1, 2017

It's a busy time at the Owl's Flower office! (Offices?) Kara's just come back from the first Crunchyroll Expo, and we're both preparing to head out to the very first PotterVerse next week! You still have a limited time to grab early registration, and you might want to -- we hear it's filling up fast!

September 9 at 5 pm in Panels Room 2, we'll be doing a panel about self-publishing from the ground up: how to format, print, code, and market your book without a middleman. And we'll have some handy handouts with this adorable collab art featuring Iris, Stormy, Dumb Baby, and the return of THE HAT! We'll also be appearing with our buddy John Peel at the 3 pm World-Building panel that same day.

You'll also be able to spot us throughout the weekend elsewhere. Ginger will be working the merch booth (where she'll be selling those sweet shirts she designed), and Kara will be conducting interviews on the mainstage with our awesome guests! We'll probably also be at the bar at some point.

RSVP here on Facebook if you're interested in going. (Remember, this does require PotterVerse admission.)

Oh right. And then there's that Doctor Who book.

Early next year, the Seasons of War line will be releasing Gallifrey, a novella co-written by Kara with author Paul Driscoll. The story takes place during the Time War and features four new characters -- a soldier, an Academy student, a senator, and a dissenter -- as the War changes and pulls apart their lives.

The sharp-eyed among you will notice Ginger's handiwork on the cover! The finished product might change over time, but this amazing circular work will be staying as you see it.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Happy to announce that, in addition to us working our butts off for Onezumi Events per usual, Owl's Flower will have some rep at PotterVerse next month!

In addition to seeing our work all over the place before and during, we'll be appearing at multiple educational panels teaching you how to create and publish works of you're own. We'll also be alongside Diadem author John Peel, the fantastic folks of Managlitch City Underground, and more for all your paranormal needs.

Check back soon for a listing of what Ginger and Kara will be up to (both separately and together), as well as a little something special in honor of the occasion!

Friday, August 4, 2017

Wow! Thanks to all the people picking up Ghost Fall and talking it up to their friends! We're so happy people are enjoying their print editions, and we're always pleased when people give above and beyond what's necessary for the ebooks. That is super awesome of you, and it helps us keep going forward.

Just a quick note to give a listen to You and Who Talking episode 15, where Kara does a reading of her essay on Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes from the charity anthology You and Who Else.
Right now, both of us are in the home stretch for PotterVerse -- and both of us will be there! Be sure to keep an eye on the site to see what's coming. Programming is going up on the site, and Potter fans can pick up some gorgeous shirts designed by Ginger specifically for this year's event. There's also a military discount at-door, as well as ASL interpreters available by request.

Yes, they really do think of everything there.

Also, it was Ginger's birthday this week!

And she got a heck of an awesome cake. (Don't let the candles fool you. She's not six years old. She's like, nine at least.)

Thanks for staying on top of what we do, and we're looking forward to dropping more cool stuff on you soon!

Friday, July 28, 2017

As some of you may be gathering as you open your mail over the next week or so, the print edition of Ghost Fall is here and ready to roll out! (And, in some cases, already rolling out.) We were fortunate to find an amazing publisher who gave us the quality we wanted at a price we could handle for our first run... meaning you guys get beautiful print copies in your hot little hands.

So if you saw the ebook up for sale and decided to wait for print -- wait no longer. Hop over to our Storenvy and pick it up for $12! A shiny, happy deal for all. The best part... Ginger doesn't have to hand-assemble and toast our books anymore, which means more time making awesome things for you.

Don't forget, you can still get the ebook edition for the price of a coffee (or more, if you're feeling generous) -- as well as the first ebook free -- here on the website. And don't forget to spread the word to book-loving friends!

Friday, July 21, 2017

Welcome back to whatever the heck it is we're doing here! Thanks to everyone who's been picking up ebooks and print books. We've heard a lot of positive feedback, and it's making us even more excited about getting the third book done!

For now, here's what Ginger and Kara are up to in their own lines of work:

This week, Imagination Print and Design (where Ginger spends her working hours) is offering a variety of locally themed shirts and tanks! If you or a friend is from Illinois, check out their site to see what's on offer. And remember, these summer designs aren't around for long, so grab them when you see them!

Also, Ginger's Etsy shop is now three years old! Be sure to zoom by and check out what she's got for sale.

Meanwhile, Kara's dropped in on the Chatty AF podcast to give her thoughts on the 2016-2017 series of Berserk!Listen to the first episode here as she watches along with Amelia and Peter. (Note: Berserk is a hot mess show and a lot of the stuff discussed is pretty violent and uncomfortable, so make sure you're in for that stuff before you tune in.) Kara will be back for three more episodes in the coming weeks to finish up the watch-along.

That's all for now! And incidentally, if you're a podcast, blog, or other such news purveyor whose fans would be interested in Owl's Flower, please feel free to contact us at contact@owlsflower.com -- we enjoy talking about ourselves.

Friday, July 14, 2017

So Kara's sat down with a pot of her strongest tea and some motivation, and spliced together another bit of video from the Owl's Flower Spring Tour 2017! This time, Ginger and Kara visit Six Flags Great America, talk about how Herne would fare on a coaster, and there's something about baseball in there too.

For what it's worth, Goliath was exactly as amazing as we both hoped.

We really enjoyed doing these videos, and honestly we're hoping to do more in future. Sadly, living half a country away from each other means we can't necessarily do them like this unless one of us is visiting or we're both at a con. But people seem to like these so... it's worth a look next time we're together!

Maybe we'll ask for questions to answer on video. Yeah.

Or maybe we'll just do what we usually do. Hard to tell at this point.

Friday, July 7, 2017

Hey, guys! We've been in such a whirlwind of Ghost Fall stuff that we practically haven't had time to talk to you about our non-Owl's Flower stuff! You've all been extremely supportive, and it's exciting to see you taking to the new book and merch. We always create things in the hope that they'll be loved, and that sure seems to be the case right now.

So... on to what Ginger and Kara are working on outside the series!

In the wake of last week's Doctor Who finale, we get the feeling you might want to check out Ginger's Etsy shop. It's full of Whovian goodies, with some really awesome stuff for Twelfth Doctor fans. Grab shirts, pins, prints, and more to keep you company during the long wait 'til Christmas.

And if you're done with Ghost Fall and looking for a new read, pick up the latest edition of NILVX: A Book of Magic! This quarterly anthology of magic, mysticism, and the occult is doing its first volume of tarot-inspired writing, including Kara's short sci-fantasy story Judgment Day.Pick it up online starting today -- or drop by The Sacred Well (CA/OR) or The Sword and Rose (CA)!

Friday, June 30, 2017

So while Kara was visiting Ginger in Illinois, we promised we'd get you a few videos. Sadly, Kara's phone is stupid and doesn't have much space on it, and was acting up when she tried to transfer the videos to her laptop.

However! We're in the process of grabbing vids off iCloud and Ginger's computer to get them to you. We're not sure how often they'll come out, but they will definitely be coming out. And this Friday is the first of them!

Check out the two of us talking about "the process," the very beginnings of the story, and how we construct scenes together:

So if you were reading closely in our last post, you may have noticed some big news: that is, Ghost Fall is now available to preorder in print! Ginger found an amazing printer, and thanks to the enthusiastic response to the new book and merch, we're able to move toward funding our first print run!

Meanwhile, we're back to work on Book 3 (as yet untitled), and we're working with an event for a potential surprise to correspond with its release. What is it?... ah, we'll let you know when we're sure ourselves. For now, look forward to it!

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

So first off, before anything else -- thank you so much for your purchases and your positive reaction to Ghost Fall! You have genuinely exceeded our expectations, and thanks to your enthusiasm and support we are on our way to bringing you more Owl's Flower just as we've been hoping to. Keep on spreading the word!

Now, on the subject of doing more. We've had a few people say they're waiting for the print edition. It's true that the first book has a print edition -- but, as you may have seen, Ginger literally assembled them herself in her living room. It makes for a great blog piece, but it's not really the sort of thing she can do every time we want to do a book.

So we've been looking into ways to bring you print books that are the quality we want to bring our readers without actually destroying ourselves in the process. This is actually a multi-step job. But since it is kind of crazy, and since you are kind of supporting a brand new franchise from the ground up, we thought it would be fair to bring you in on what we're doing.

Owl's Flower is a light novel, yes, but
unlike most light novels on store shelves, its drawings are
full-color illustrations. Color and lighting are important when it
comes to the tone and impact of Owl's Flower's drawings, and to truly
get that out there, we absolutely needed our drawings to remain in
color.

If you've ever researched
print-your-own books or similar projects, you will know that there
are typically two, and only two, options for your color choices: all
black and white, or all color. This mainly has to do with how most
printers have their machines and presses set up and ultimately, what
is cost effective for that printer. But for us, it made no sense to
bite the bullet and just print our book in all color -- financially, it
made no sense, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There had to
be another way.

After months of research and sending
out quote requests, we finally landed on our printer: someone who
would do black and white printing, with color inserts, for a fair
price and reasonable minimum quantities.

Just because we found our printer that
didn't mean we were home free. This stage of the game mainly involves
researching different interior paper, cover stocks, and asking as
many questions as possible to be sure all bases are covered. Our
printer was so kind as to send a sample book so that Ginger could
see, feel, and scrutinize the different papers and the actual print
quality.

If you (like Kara) don't know that difference is
between 50# and 70# or what “C2S” stands for, this may have
little interest to you, but it's an extremely important step to be
sure that Owl's Flower is going to be printed with the same amount of
quality – or more – as the kind you see on store shelves.
Everything is researched to be sure the book looks good while still
remaining well priced.

Once the quote for the books is set, it
comes down to getting everything put together in a print-ready file
and triple-checking everything that has been triple-checked to make
super-duper-uber sure that the book will print properly. Making sure
the illustrations are in the layout properly, that page numbers are
correct, that the proper phrases are italicized, things like that.

That might seem like extra work when we already have an ebook version, but the formatting between ebook and print is very different. When Kara assembles the ebooks, she runs the PDF file straight out of Word (after tweaking and making sure no words have magically disappeared under images). Then she has to go back to the Word file, reformat it, and run it through an ebook program to make sure the text shows up properly across a variety of ereaders.

All in all, getting a book formatted for PDF, Mobi, ePub, and print involves two people altering five or six different iterations of one file!

Once everything is set, it's off to the
printers and out of our hands so that professionals can take care of
it. Isn't it great to know people who know what they're doing?

Meanwhile, we're ticking away at book 3, so that eventually you'll have more fantastic stories to read.

So what happens then? Well, we have books! They're sent to Ginger, and she ships them out to you. Then you can read them, put them on your bookshelf next to your Tokyopop manga, take photos of them with your cat and a cup of coffee, or whatever the heck you kids do with print books these days.

Basically, this is all our very long-winded way of telling you that book 2 preorders are now open, and if you want yours you should head over to our Storenvy shop. We'll be doing a bigger post about this later, but the sooner you get in, the sooner you get yours!

Friday, June 23, 2017

Wow, what a week! Ghost Fall is out and we've already got some satisfied customers. Please keep on picking up your ebook copy to support us and to keep on reading the story of Herne and Iris. Book 3 is underway (and will be more underway now that Kara and Ginger are out from under assembling book 2!), so as time goes on we'll occasionally drop some little hints about that.

Meanwhile, Kara has just finished working with Crunchyroll and Fathom Events on an ongoing promotion for the new film Resident Evil: Vendetta! Check out her interview with voice actors Matt Mercer (Leon S. Kennedy) and Erin Cahill (Rebecca Chambers) covering the film, the pair's other video game and acting work, the Overwatchiversary, and the awesomeness of the anime and game fandom.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Thanks to everyone so far who's bought a book -- and to those of you who gave a little extra, you're super awesome! You're why we can keep being creative, making more books, and bringing you more cool stuff!

Speaking of more cool stuff -- Ginger has done this adorable pic in celebration of our second release, featuring Herne, Iris, and Stormy. If you like the art, guess what? You can wear it!

The above art is available on three types of shirts: unisex, women's, and a breezy tank. All three are available in multiple colors (Kara is picking up her smoky women's tee as we speak) to suit your wardrobe! Tees are $25, tanks are $22.

Also available is this gorgeous print of Herne and Iris going for an autumn evening fly, straight out of the second book! It's available in six sizes, ranging from $14-34, and is printed on fingerprint-proof luster photo paper.

Check out our Storenvy to pick up these new goodies, plus shop shirts, cutie shirts and leggings, mugs, and tote bags!

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

It's here! The spooky second volume of the Owl's Flower light novel series is now available in PDF, ePUB, and Mobi. And you can grab it now in the store!

A bit of an explanation on how we're doing this. Originally, we wanted to do pay-what-you-want quite literally. But PayPal has new rules in place where donation buttons can only be used by charities. And, well... we're not a charity. We're a small business. So unfortunately that wasn't possible. And the codes for creating a pay-what-you-want box allowed people to put $0... which we can't afford.

So for now, we are operating via Ko-fi. This means you can pay in increments of $3, with a $3 minimum... but we decided between us that's a pretty square deal for a full-length book with 13 full-colour illustrations. You can absolutely pay more if you so desire. In future, we hope to get a more fluid, self-contained system for that.

For those waiting for the print version... let's say that for now, you might want to just grab the ebook. We're not saying a print version won't happen, but Ginger is busily running numbers and pricing print runs with small publishers (since her binding them at home is not schedule-effective for her). We're not sure how long that will take, but if you're itching for the next installment, you might want to grab the digital version.

Plus, digital sales will go on to fund our initial print run!

Meanwhile, we've got some very cool things in the works. Some new merch, a potential collaboration event next year, and (of course) working away on Book 3!

Thanks to everyone for all the support, and we'll see you Friday for our regular creator check-in!

Monday, June 19, 2017

Tomorrow's the big day! Ghost Fall, the second book in the Owl's Flower light novel series, goes on sale tomorrow for pay-what-you-want. If you're new to the series, you can grab the first book free right here.

We were struggling to decide what we should do for the final day of our countdown. Kara's talked about her experiences writing spooky stories, Ginger's talked about the "before and after" of her life during her time on this book, so what's left? Well, there are two people who haven't had their say yet... our stars, Herne and Iris!

So, to lead in to the new book tomorrow, we had a chat with the couple at the center of it all. Read on to find out more about Ghost Fall and the future of the series!

So, how is the big life change going?Iris: You mean us dating in general, or Herne moving in specifically?

Herne: What do you mean by that? I'm perfect.

Iris: ... yes, of course you are. So are the feathers I keep finding between the sofa cushions. And in the dishwasher.

Herne: They're perfect, yes.

Iris: So, does that answer your question?

What are the special challenges you encounter sharing a living space with someone so unlike you?Herne: Well, she sleeps a lot and she's always doing laundry-

Iris: I think they were talking to me.

Herne: How dare.

Do you sleep a lot?

Iris: If I'm lucky, I sleep six hours.

Herne, what is "a lot" to you?

Herne: SIX HOURS!!!

Is it tough for you to be living in a house instead of a tree?

Herne: I thought it might be, but I have constant access to coffee and snacks, so it's great.

Iris: And girlfriend.

Herne: What?

Iris: And constant access to girlfriend.

Herne: Oh, right.

Is he cuddly?

Herne: That's a very personal question!

Iris: Yes, he's very cuddly.

So, moving on... what can you tell us about the events of the second book?

Herne: They happened.

Iris: ... I think they know that. I think they want, like... a teaser or something.

Herne: Oh... I learn to make coffee.

Iris: And there's a lot of spooky stuff, too. Like ghosts. Since it's Halloween.

Herne: And I wear a hat.

Iris: And he wears a hat.

And Herne, we get to meet some of your old friends.

Herne: Yes, we do.

Iris: We do??

Herne: You remember Frank.

Iris: ... oh. Right. Frank.

Herne: And there's someone else, too.

Iris: Wait, there is?

Herne: Well, we don't technically meet him, but he does show up.

Iris: Oh. Nice. Building up a little mystery.

Anything else to say to your readers?

Herne: Come back tomorrow to download Ghost Fall to see what we're talking about.

Iris: It's pay-what-you-want for the ebook, which means you could totally get it for a penny if you want... but you don't want to be that guy, right?

Herne: Uh... she means pay what you think it's worth.

Iris: I know exactly what I mean.

Herne: And if you're new to the series and not sure, then check out the first ebook. It's free.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

As I was leaving my neighborhood the
other day, I saw a yard sign posted for the annual community garage
sale. Oh right I thought,
That was the thing I was going to do and then realized I
have nothing to actually sell.
The most obvious tell of this is that my single-stall garage stores
my car, not random junk.

What this means is
that a year ago this weekend, I looked at the condo I'm writing this
up in right now and put an offer in for. This was my summer of two
moves, where my parents and I just so happened to buy places to live
at the same time, but my closing was a month after theirs. The first
Owl's Flower was drawn partly at my old house, partly in an
extended-stay hotel, partly at my parents' new place, and partly at
my first “own” place. There was so much going on in my life that
I can't believe I actually was able to get drawings done for the
first of this new adventure of making a light novel series.

Herne's design comes from an established place (drawings circa 2012/2013).

I've
wanted to make a book series for a very, very long time. Along with
that elusive illustration degree I have, I also studied and have a
minor in English. My graduation portfolio for my BFA featured all
sorts of characters I had created, both on the spot for pieces and
who had been sitting in my brain for years. The toner-ink warriors,
the desert pirate, the space farmers, the emperor mangoat – they
all had a story to them (which my class was often subject to hearing)
and were ready to go. But, as many will tell you, making
stories happen is hard, especially when you want to write and draw
it. Owl's Flower is kind of a relief in the sense that it's a story
I'm passionate about, and get to work with someone who is just as
passionate as I am. It's satisfying to say that the hurdle isn't
getting the first story out, it's doing the second, the third, the
seventh. That's an exciting place to be.

One of the things
Kara brought up in her post, which apparently I brought up, is that
the first book of the series is kind of...slow. And I don't say that
to complain, I say it as an observation when I was looking at things
to draw. Let's not use the word “slow” and instead say that was
it pretty mellow. Something that I was looking forward to with book 2
and beyond was that things would become more weird and mystical and
open for possibilities. I'm not calling for action scenes all the
time, necessarily, but I'm excited to bring this world of ours to
life as we keep going. More supernatural stuff, more new characters
to meet, and more of Herne's wings and antlers.

Book 3
was discussed the Monday after we had launched book 1 and I had gone
to a wedding. I can remember chugging a latte before taking off for
the airport and Kara and I were gabbing about the plot of book 3,
making jokes while also going “no wait that's a great idea”.
Ghost Fall is the
start of something really exciting and really fun, and I' m excited
to get this all out there for you guys to enjoy.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

When we were wrapping up the first Owl's Flower book, Ginger pointed out to me -- not wrongly -- that it was a bit slow. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing for a romance series origin story, nor do I think she was putting it forward as a bad thing. It's important the we know from Day One that the drama in Herne and Iris's life doesn't come from a turbulent relationship haunted by uncertainty and unstable emotions. That's not who they are.

Going forward, however, we knew we could go bigger and badder and weirder with the books. Ginger has a very kinetic style, and I love writing action sequences. I also love writing dark and weird -- and creating a pantheon whose deities can be from any era, any beliefs system, and any tier of reality means we can really go to town with our creations.

When I was younger, I was inspired by a sort of odd blend of Douglas Adams, Brian Jacques, and C.S. Lewis. Now, as a published writer, I find myself retaining a bit of that, but with a healthy helping of influence from Junji Ito and the more fantasy-skewed works of Richard Matheson and Stephen King. Published I've turned out lately include medieval knights having existential crises in Heaven, giant petrified elder gods in space, haunted video games, and a retelling of an old Poe story that ends with someone getting stabbed with shards of mirror.

So a Halloween story with ghosts sounded right up my street.

I don't think Ghost Fall is grim per se. Overall, Owl's Flower isn't grim. It's sweet, it's sad sometimes, it's funny quite a bit (I hope), and it's got some mystery and some scares and some intrigue. But despite my love of the macabre and Ginger's willingness to run with it, it's never going to become one of those stories completely. Not with a core made up of a barista and an owl-shifter with anxiety.

That said, I hope this story gives you some scares. I hope it makes you think. I hope it gets you even more interested in the characters. And I hope it makes you excited for the third book, which is underway and will be a Valentine's Day story.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Well, between day jobs, convention work, health crises, and every other potential thing that can happen, we finally got there... Book 2 of the series, Ghost Fall, goes on sale this Tuesday, June 20!

This second ebook, and all ebooks going forward, will be pay-what-you-want. So if cash flow is low but you still want to read, you can set your own price! Conversely, you can use this as a way to make donations, too. Any future print books will have a set price, of course -- but this is up to you.

Stay tuned over the next few days, since we're going to have some cool stuff leading up to the release. And be sure to come see Kara at Anime Mid-Atlantic this weekend if you're in the Hampton Roads area!

Friday, June 9, 2017

Whew! Hello, all! It's been a busy week for both of us as we hunker down and get to work on upcoming conventions. For starters, check out Ginger's awesome design for the PotterVerse shirts!

Shirts are $20 for size S-XL, and $25 for sizes 2XL-5XL. There will be a few to buy at the merch table in common sizes during the con, but if you want to be sure of getting one, your best bet is to order beforehand. Register now to hang out with us in Baltimore this September, and be sure to add a shirt or two to your registration!

Speaking of cons, Kara will be at Anime Mid-Atlantic starting a week from today in Norfolk, VA! She'll be hosting karaoke for her 11th year running Friday night at 9 PM. Be sure to come hang out if you're in the area -- and remember, the con has moved to the Norfolk Waterside Marriott this year!